NCT07347756

The Effect of Gait Imagery on the Muscular Activity of Lower Limbs and Lower Body Kinematics in Stroke Survivors

The Effect of Gait Imagery on the Muscular Activity of Lower Limbs and Lower Body Kinematics in Subacute Stroke Survivors

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 40 (actual)
• Sponsor: Hana Haltmar · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of normal gait imagery and gait on a line imagery on lower limb muscle activity and lower body kinematics in stroke survivors.

Detailed description

Gait imagery is a cognitive process involving the mental simulation of a gait that is not actually performed. According to current studies, gait imagery has very similar neural activity to that observed in real gait. This activity can be observed not only at the central level, but also at the end effector - the muscle - using surface electromyography. Across studies, muscle activity and kinematics are evaluated in particular when imagining analytical movements of the upper or lower limbs, but complex and posturally more demanding movements (in our case, gait and its modification - gait on a line) are studied to a lesser extent. Independent walking and the ability to adapt it to the terrain is important in rehabilitation therapy for patients with limited mobility. These individuals include, among others, a stroke survivors. The aim of the study is therefore to evaluate the effect of normal gait imagery and gait on a line imagery on lower limb muscle activity and lower body kinematics in these individuals.

Conditions

• Motor Imagery
• Stroke

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	gait imagery	The initial position, which is identical for all measured tasks, consisted of an upright bipedal stance in front of an unobtrusive white screen with feet at pelvic width, upper limbs held loosely along the body, eyes open and facing forward. During the rest task, non-motor imagery task, participants are instructed to sing the song "Happy Birthday" in their minds. NGI before the real execution of normal gait and GLI before the real execution of gait on the line are tasks associated with the imagery of normal gait or tandem gait on the line. Participants first observed a 5 m section of the corridor for NGI, or a line located in the middle of the same corridor for GLI. The last tasks, NGI after the real execution of normal gait and GLI after the real execution of gait on the line, differed from above mentioned tasks in the immediate real experience of normal gait or gait on the line.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-03-01
• Primary completion: 2022-01-01
• Completion: 2022-03-01
• First posted: 2026-01-16
• Last updated: 2026-01-21

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: Czechia